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Cathay Pacific releases combined traffic figures for May 2015

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for May 2015 that show both the number of passengers carried and the cargo and mail uplift growing compared to the same month last year.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,901,558 passengers in May – an increase of 11.8% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor grew by 2.9 percentage points to 85.9% while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 7.5%. In the year to the end of May, passenger traffic grew by 9.1% while capacity was up by 6.5%

The two airlines carried 147,034 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 6.2% compared to May 2014. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 0.9 percentage points to 62.1%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 11.1% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) flown increased by 9.5%. In the year to the end of May, tonnage rose by 9.6% against a capacity increase of 9.6% and a 12.2% rise in RTKs.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Patricia Hwang said: “Passenger demand remained robust in most key markets during May, and the increase in passenger numbers easily outpaced the growth in capacity. Demand out of the key Hong Kong market was strong, buoyed by the public holidays at the beginning of the month. We entered the traditional slack season for Australia and New Zealand but Japan remained hugely popular as a leisure destination and we saw high loads in the Economy cabin on many other routes. A higher proportion of connecting traffic and lower-than-expected premium traffic on long-haul routes both had a negative impact on yield.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: “Our cargo business got off to a slow start in May due to the long public holiday in Mainland China at the beginning of the month. Demand picked up steadily as factories reopened but the month’s tonnage growth could not keep pace with the increase in capacity. Our Mainland business continued to face pressure from intense competition and we saw less benefit from the congestion in the seaports on the West Coast of the USA than in previous months. Demand into and out of the Indian subcontinent was one of the bright spots in our cargo network in May.”

 

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED TRAFFIC

MAY

2015

% Change

VS MAY 14

Cumulative

MAY 2015

% Change

YTD

RPK (000)

 

 

 

 

 - Mainland China

772,260

13.0%

3,671,639

5.4%

 - North East Asia

1,304,881

12.2%

6,476,314

10.7%

 - South East Asia

1,441,175

19.3%

7,081,460

17.0%

- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

747,912

-3.3%

3,442,058

-3.1%

 - South West Pacific & South Africa

1,367,088

15.2%

7,185,167

14.3%

 - North America

3,044,739

9.8%

13,570,393

8.3%

 - Europe

1,681,050

10.1%

8,161,619

9.4%

RPK Total (000)

10,359,105

11.2%

49,588,650

9.7%

Passengers carried

2,901,558

11.8%

13,989,739

9.1%

Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000)

872,849

9.5%

4,271,010

12.2%

Cargo and mail carried (000kg)

147,034

6.2%

727,043

9.6%

Number of flights

6,691

6.0%

32,427

5.9%

 

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED CAPACITY

MAY

2015

% Change

VS MAY 14

Cumulative

MAY 2015

% Change

YTD

ASK (000)

 

 

 

 

 - Mainland China

964,333

3.5%

4,696,295

0.8%

 - North East Asia

1,613,033

6.2%

7,898,219

7.2%

 - South East Asia

1,739,797

10.3%

8,535,113

13.1%

- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

870,056

-8.5%

4,125,828

-10.4%

 - South West Pacific & South Africa

1,589,466

10.1%

8,064,053

8.6%

 - North America

3,316,892

9.9%

15,255,768

7.6%

 - Europe

1,962,810

10.4%

9,362,181

8.5%

ASK Total (000)

12,056,387

7.5%

57,937,457

6.5%

Passenger load factor

85.9%

2.9pt

85.6%

2.5pt

Available cargo/mail tonne km (000)

1,406,361

11.1%

6,638,011

9.6%

Cargo and mail load factor

62.1%

-0.9pt

64.3%

1.5pt

ATK (000)

2,552,747

9.4%

12,147,206

8.1%